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LEFT WING LOONS Title: Facing murder - rape charges in the killing of his HS teacher ... 16-year-old Philip Chism is facing life behind bars --- or a mental hospital. For Chism attorneys, an uphill battle to convince jurors of insanity Facing murder and rape charges in the killing of his high school math teacher, 16-year-old Philip Chism is facing life behind bars -- or a mental hospital. November 10, 2015 By Allison Manning @allymanning 05chism - Philip Chism, left, is in Salem Superior Court accused of first degree murder, along with rape and robbery, in the October 2013 slaying of teacher Colleen Ritzer, 24, of Andover, an attack prosecutors say started in a girls bathroom at Danvers High School. One of his lawyers, John Osler is on the right. (Ken Yuszkus/Pool) Philip Chism, 16, in Salem Superior Court this month. Ken Yuszkus / The Eagle Tribune Defense attorneys for a teenager charged with raping and killing his high school math teacher have a difficult task ahead: convincing a jury that the teenager should be sent to a hospital, not to prison. The defense team for Philip Chism, now 16, has hinted they will almost certainly pursue an insanity defense when opening statements begin in his trial next week, arguing that he wasn’t in his right mind when he allegedly stabbed 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer to death after school and dragged her body into the woods. Related Links • Judge: Teen charged with killing high school math teacher is competent to stand trial • Teenager in teacher murder trial told psychologist he hoped someone would kill him • Defense hints at possible insanity defense for teen charged with killing high school math teacher Legally speaking, they need to prove he wasn’t criminally responsible—that he suffered from a mental disease or defect, and as a result was unable to understand that what he did was wrong or how to follow the law. Chism’s defense team probably won’t try to prove he didn’t commit the act of murdering Ritzer, though, said Peter Elikann, vice chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s criminal justice section. “The only hand to really play would be some kind of mental health defense, either having to do with his actual mental health or try to use the issue of his age,” Elikann said. That appears to be the defense’s plan. Chism attorney Denise Regan told the court that Dr. Richard Dudley, the expert who evaluated Chism and is likely to tell jurors about the then 14-year-old’s mental state at the time of the killing, is the “kingpin of the defense case.” “He’s the person who gives the opinion that Mr. Chism lacks criminal responsibility,” she told the judge. When questioning jurors during jury selection, Regan asked them directly about how they felt about finding Chism not guilty by reason of insanity. “If you found he committed these offenses, and found he was not sane, would you have trouble returning a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity?” she asked. But a big issue with an insanity defense is that it “almost never works,” Elikann said. It will be difficult for jurors to reconcile the two contrasting versions of Chism that will be presented in court. The first version, which will likely be described by his teachers and fellow students, will depict a boy who had just moved from Tennessee and seemed to be fitting in at Danvers High School. The second version is of a severely mentally ill child who didn’t understand what he did was wrong. Legally, it’s possible, but that dichotomy can be hard for jurors to stomach. “You really can be insane and yet you can be very intelligent … and functioning and still be insane,” Elikann said. Locally, there have been several unsuccessful bids by defense attorneys to convince a jury a defendant was insane. In June, a jury said Edwin Alemany was in his right mind when he murdered a young woman he snatched outside of her South Boston apartment, despite the testimony of a psychiatrist who said he was raped as a child and plagued by mental illness. John Salvi, who walked into two Brookline abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two people, wasn’t insane during the 1994 rampage, a jury found. His lawyers had argued he was a paranoid schizophrenic in the grips of delusion. It can be even harder to prove insanity in kids, in part because of how quickly their brains are changing and developing, said Naoka Carey, executive director of the advocacy group Citizens for Juvenile Justice. “With young people, it’s very tricky to recognize and diagnose mental health issues,” she said. “People are reluctant to diagnose children or young teenagers with serious mental health issues because everything is changing so rapidly.” Kids, by virtue of their age, have a real lack of behavior to analyze, said Phillip Kassel, an attorney and executive director of the state’s Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee. “Certain conduct, like anger or a tendency to withdraw, are common to many children that are otherwise ‘normal,’” he said. “Unfortunately, the first clear indication as, apparently, in this case, that a youth is troubled can come too late to avoid an unspeakable tragedy such as in the Chism case.” Jurors are hesitant to find someone not guilty by reason of insanity in part because of society’s pervasive belief that a defendant somehow gets off easy or escapes punishment by going to a hospital instead of a prison, Kassel said. That’s not the truth at all, he said. Chism’s attorney, Regan, seemed to understand that issue when she asked the judge to instruct jurors that Bridgewater State Hospital, the mental hospital Chism would be sent to, isn’t just a hospital but a medium security prison. But the judge refused. The facts of Chism’s case—the violent death of a bright, enthusiastic young teacher—are horrifying. But it’s the cases that are most stomach-turning that test the courts the most, Carey said. “When people are most upset,” she said, “that’s when it’s most challenging for the system to do things in a thoughtful and fair way.” Poster Comment: sudden jihad syndrome ... yes we con - hoax --- chains ! Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: BorisY (#0)
Fry his ass.
He followed her into the restroom wearing a hood and gloves, killed her, left, then came back with a recycling bin on wheels to transport the body outside the building and into the woods. Not in his right mind my ass.
Oh,yeah! Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.
Yep. Tie him to a post, pile up old tires around it, and light it up! Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” - George S. Patton
sudden jihad syndrome ... yes we con - hoax --- whips - knives - chains ! smoki > Patricia McGehee Given recent racially motivated incidents, I have to say that the false narr narrative based on the race card that the creature in the WH has used to pull off the greatest hoax in American history is reaching its penultimate conclusion e.g. the civil war has commenced and Pandora's box has been sprung open open open open I agree with Michael Savage that Obama resembles Mao Zedong while his rampa rampaging black savage acolytes resemble the Red Guard that terrorized the Chinese population in the early seventies with school children killing their teachers an and parents similar to the recent horrible crime in Missouri in which two school kids, 13 and 14 years old one of whom was a boy scout, killed an innocent young white woman at a car wash by stabbing her repeatedly with a pocket knife. http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/left-promoting-mass-delusion-says-journalist/? cat_orig=us If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys !
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